Adventures in vegan eats and feats

Mexican breakfast waffles

Food blogs are evil. They have a year-round barrage of waffles all the time which just drive me insane – dripping with fruity compotes, melted chocolate, brownie bits, sliced bananas, beans, ice-cream. So dangerous! I therefore decided to recommission our waffle maker over the weekend and try my hand at a savoury waffle, which is something I enjoy thoroughly. I’d made breakfast waffles for Man-thing’s birthday, but I figured I could jazz up the whole affair significantly this time round with a splash of colour and flavour. Yum!

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 tub/350g firm tofu, drained and pressed dry

1 cup sliced mushrooms

10 or so cherry tomatoes (or MOAR because tasty!)

handful mange tout

3 small radishes, chopped finely

2 pickles, chopped finely

1/3 cup frozen corn

1 batch carrot cake waffles (courtesy of Chocolate Covered Katie) – omit the spices given and rather add some paprika

Smoked paprika, white pepper, mustard powder

1 leek, chopped finely

1 TBSP onion flakes

1 tsp onion powder

1 TBSP chili flakes

2 TBSP tomato paste

2 TBSP boiling water

Optional: 2 TBSP mustard

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

Big splashes of oregano

1/8 cup lemon juice

splash of tabasco sauce

How-to:

Preheat the oven to 180C and spray a baking sheet.

Slice your cherry tomatoes in half and place them face-down on the baking sheet, along with your mange tout and sliced mushrooms.

Bake for 20 minutes until the tops of the tomatoes are wrinkled.

Using a non-stick pan turn up the heat to medium-high and water sauteé your onion and chili flakes and leeks for 4 minutes.

Add in and fry your cubes of tofu for 4 minutes on one side until slightly browned.

Let your tofu fry for another 4 minutes or so, stirring once or twice. Add some lemon juice if it starts sticking too much. I like my tofu crispy burnt, so I let it cook until a type of crust forms.

Add the radishes, corn, pickles and tabasco sauce, and let it cook further for another 3 minutes, adding lemon juice as necessary (it’s also just yum).

Break your tofu into smaller bits with your plastic spatula so that it resembles scrambled eggs and fry for another few minutes.

Meanwhile, whip up your waffle mix and make your waffles in the iron (mine took 5 minutes).

Dish up and nom on!

Optional: serve with some avocado, as I did, or add some bbq sauce, tahini drizzle, olives…pretty much whatever floats your boat. I found I didn’t need a sauce with the moisture from the tofu scramble and the avo, but that’s just me, ALTHOUGH a balsamic reduction would have been phenomenal (I’ve tried homemade and was too sad about how much balsamic vinegar had to be sacrificed – just buy it, say I!).

It’s always grand to change up one’s breakfast or to make breakfast for others. I had nagged about wanting to make this but didn’t tell Man-thing when, so it was a bit of a surprise for him when he woke up at 07h00 on Sunday, and I still gave him the option of this or a bowl of cereal. Luckily I’m not so terrible in the kitchen that he chose cereal, but you never know :p

My latest breakfast craze is soaked buckwheat, which is just amazing in smoothies, on smoothie bowls, just like that, with other cereal, in granola…gah, just too make possibilities for this divine ingredient. I still need to perfect buckwheat in all its forms, such as figuring out a nice buckwheat waffle, but these carrot cake waffles from CCK are just so delightfully easy and nom that I see no cause to use anything else in the meanwhile, because carrot waffles work for both savoury and sweet 🙂

There was so much going on my plate that I forgot to add my prize ingredient: Vegan Richa’s nacho cheese! My sadness was immense later on when I’d discovered what I’d done (make a whole meal centered around one thing and then leave it out? My brain was more asleep than I thought!). Anyway, I munched through her cheese later on with some hummus and other delights and it was so tasty and cheesy! To make up for it, let me show you what I ate with lunch today: toasted rye with hummus, grated nacho cheese, pickles and grilled artichokes. Oh yes! 😀

What’s your favourite breakfast food? Do you eat something different on the weekends?

Like this:

Related

Ahoy, I’m Margaux! History teacher and freelance editor; wench to my Man-thing; volunteer at a cat shelter; and handmaiden to our kitsy cats, Gatsby, Freyja and Atlas. This blog is dedicated to vegan food, occasionally overthrown by pictures of foster kittens and other fluffy creatures. I love sharing ideas and recipes, so don't be shy: stop by and say hi!